


The Beast In The Beauty

by asharaofthedawn, peachmaisie



Category: Daredevil (TV)
Genre: Ableism, Ambiguous time period but kinda roccoco, Beauty and the Beast, Body Disfigurement, F/M, Harm, Isolation, Magic, Mob Mentality, Scarring, beauty lies beneath the skin, blinding, exchange, mentions of catholicism, mentions of child abuse, mob
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-25
Updated: 2019-06-25
Packaged: 2020-05-19 08:31:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19353283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asharaofthedawn/pseuds/asharaofthedawn, https://archiveofourown.org/users/peachmaisie/pseuds/peachmaisie
Summary: Matt Murdock lives a quiet life with his father, Jack, until Jack breaks in and steals from a mysterious house. The owner of the house agrees to let Jack go on one condition, Matt take his place.A Beauty and the Beast au





	The Beast In The Beauty

**Author's Note:**

> From our rps wlthoutfear and theladyxluckless.

 

It’s been almost ten years since the witch cursed her. Scaring her face and body. Making her a ghastly sight.

Now her soul is tethered to her once illustrious home. As are her servants, who have been cursed in various ways themselves. Making them unable to care for the home. Leading it into disrepair.

But there’s a new beacon of hope. A man had broken into her home, and taken food from her pantry. She imprisoned him, but his pleads for mercy changed her heart when he mentioned his son. A grown man that still lives with him.

Her possible saviour.

She sent her servant Stick, one of the few that can leave the home, after him. She issued one command. _Bring him to me._

There was no work for a blind man in the town, Matt spent all of his time at home, tending for the chores there. When he did go out for a wander, he heard the whispers from the townsfolk, felt their stares as they went about their daily business.

_“Such a pretty face, such a waste.”_

There were few options other than living with his father, the man had a tendency to pick fights and Matt found himself useful in looking after his wounds, a thank you for the roof over his head and the food on the table.

Matt can’t say he is surprised when early one morning he finds a stranger at the door claiming his father to be a thief. He slips on his coat and grabs his wooden cane, following the stranger with the intentions of retrieving his father and more so pleading to let them be without consequence.

Elektra stands at the top of the stairs when Stick returns. A scarf wrapped around her head, and covering her face. Her hand clutching the rail.

She takes in the man with him. He’s handsome. Well built. Possibly quite a catch.

She walks down the stairs, and comes closer. Inspecting him. She removes the scarf when she realizes he’s blind, and drops it on the floor.

“Follow me.” She commands, and heads into the direction of the small personal dungeons.

“I want to apologize for my father’s actions,” Matt says as he follows the stranger down a long corridor, the sound of his cane echoing around them. “He works to feed us both and becomes desperate around this time of year. He is a good man, just foolish.”

Elektra doesn’t answer. Instead leading him to his father’s cell.

The man is huddled in a corner until he sees his son, then sits up and reaches for him. “Matty you came!”

“What were you thinking?” Matt practically hisses, he had already lost one of his parents, he didn’t need to lose the other due to greed. “What if no one had sent for me? God knows what could have happened!

“Your son is right.” Elektra’s ballgown swishes as she steps closer. “But there must still be a consequence. This behaviour can’t be swept under the rug.”

She lays a gentle hand on Matt’s shoulder. “In exchange for your father’s freedom, you must take his place.”

 It takes a few seconds for Matt to process what she was saying, but when he does he shrugs her hand off his shoulder and steps away quickly, horror drawn onto his face.

“What?” He clutches onto his cane harder. “No, that isn’t fair!”

“You won’t survive out there without me, Matty,” his father says, his voice gruff and mournful; Matt wonders how truthful he’s being, maybe he wants a life free from burden.

“You’ll live in better comfort then you’d could ever possibly dream. I’m doing you a favour.”

“Keeping me here against my will is not a comfort!” He scoffs. “Have some mercy, will you? My father knows better now than to take what is not his, you don’t need to take it upon yourself to teach him a lesson.”

“It seems you can’t see reason. Take him.” Elektra orders Stick and he drags Jack away. “Once you see this is good, you’ll be lead to a room in the East Wing.”

He clenches his jaw and listens as his father is pulled away, dragging his feet and fighting the grasp of the servant. The spiteful side of him wants to simply leave, let Jack fester in the disaster he cooked up for himself, but it’s not what his mother would have wanted.

“Get your hands off of him,” Matt says as he rips Stick’s hands off from his father’s arms. “I’ll stay but you must let him go, be good on your word.” 

“I will. Lead him to a carriage.” Elektra orders, then takes Matt’s hand. “You’ll be taken to your room to change, and then we’ll have dinner.”

Matt pulls his hand out from her grasp as though he had been burnt. He might be stuck here now but he has no intent to be pleasant. Another servant escorts him to his room and once there, he sits down on the bed and sighs as his clothes are picked out for him.

Elektra changes into another gown, then heads down to the dining room. She takes a seat as the meal is served, and waits for Matt.

He is lead downstairs again after getting changed, his new clothes are old but he can tell the fabrics were one expensive and luxurious. They still manage to feel nicer than anything he’s owned before, even despite the lack of care.

Once again, he shrugs off the arm leading him once they arrive in the dining room. He sits down begrudgingly and says nothing as dinner is plated in front of him.

Elektra digs into her roast, and flinches in pain as her scars pull around her mouth.

“Do you like the deer meat? It was killed this morning.” She straightens her handkerchief, that’s sit on her decade old dress.

Matt’s head tilts slightly as he hears Elektra wince, unsure of what had hurt her. When she says nothing about it, he decides not to question.

“Did you kill it?” He asks, pushing the food around his plate like a petulant child. In reality, he knows he should be gobbling down the food as quickly as possible. There have been many days he hasn’t eaten at all, but the bitterness of the current situation oozes through.

“No. Some of the servants did. I don’t leave the grounds.” She takes a sip of red wine.

“Why not?” He leans back in the chair, the old wood creaking beneath him. “There can’t be much to do here,” he says, as though he left his home an awful lot either. When he did, he was ridiculed for his blindness; what could be so bad to keep her inside all day long?

“I forget you can’t see me.” Her finger absentmindedly traces a scar on her wrist. “I’m covered in grotesque scars. What’s the point of leaving if everyone would cower in horror, or try to kill you?”

It’s not the whole truth. She’s left somethings out, like the witch and the soul tethering, but he doesn’t need to know that. Not now.

“It doesn’t sound like you have much of a life here either,” he shrugs, “maybe that wouldn’t be the worst thing to happen—  maybe it’d be a good thing.”

With that, he stands up from the table.

“Something about being held against your will has really killed my appetite. Thanks for the meal though,” he gives a fake smile before leaving, batting away the hand of a nearby servant who reached out to lead him back to his room.

Elektra admits a low growl as his leaves. Angry at his shortness, and ungratefulness.

She finishes her food then taps her servant, Foggy, on the shoulder. “Give him a tour to make him feel more comfortable, but stay away from the West Wing.”

Foggy nods, giving her a good look at his nose bone. His skin sticks to him as though he starves. His curse.

The house is larger than anything Matt’s ever been inside before, the hallways echo and spiders crawl across the cobweb ridden ceiling, no love or care has touched the inside for a very long time; and now Matt has to call it home.

He tries to get any information he can out of Foggy as he walks him around, any secret exits or specific times Elektra is busy but he stays quiet, only occasionally nodding or humming in response. It appears that it’s not only the interior that is rotting, but perhaps the people themselves.

Elektra lays in her bed. Tucked beneath the covers. A book in hand.

She keeps eyeing her orchid. Trapped under a glass case. A nervous habit developed over the years. It is her personal clock. Telling her how much time is left until the curse is made permanent. Unable to be undone.

And the first petal has already fallen two days before.

The next morning, Matt wakes up early and walks the grounds. It is peaceful in a sort of sad way, isolated from the rest of the town but allows for quiet contemplation. It might have been nice if it wasn’t for the state it had been left to rot in.

After wandering for what feels like years, he eventually stumbles on the room he believes to belong to Elektra. He can hear her heartbeat from inside, soft and still steady from sleep. Curiosity takes over and he slowly opens the door, eager to see what he can find.

Elektra sits tucked away in the corner of her large balcony, sipping on a cup of warm tea made by the crippled Madame Gao.

Her eyes take in the horizon. Peering over the tree branches, and seeing the tops of some of the buildings of the nearby town. What she would give to be able to walk there. To shop in its stores, and walk down its streets.

Matt runs his fingers across the old wallpaper as he walks around the room, brushing over the peeling edges as he takes in the smell of dust and perfume. 

He stumbles against a small table when he doesn’t pay attention to his surroundings and by reflex, he reaches out and grabs the large case sat atop. Thankfully, it doesn’t fall but he freezes at the sound of his own mistake.

Elektra shoots from her seat, and races into her bedroom. She sees Matt holding the case, and fear grapples her.

She runs at him, and pushes him away from it. Her eyes quickly running over the orchid to make sure it hasn’t been damaged. “What are you doing in here? Get out!” She pushes him again, and knocks him into a decaying portrait of her from before the curse, sitting on the floor.

Matt stumbles and once he catches himself, he runs out of the room before he can do anything to anger her further. He considers trying his first hand at escaping but decides against it in favor of locking himself in his room; he doesn’t want to know what would happen if he was caught, especially now.

Elektra sits on the floor beside the table. Her knees tucked against her chest. Soft tears on her cheeks. She doesn’t want to think what would’ve happened if he had hurt the orchid. It’s too painful.

As she sits there, Madame Gao hobbles in. Clutching her wooden cane. “Are you alright?”

“No. Matthew, he almost touched the flower. He could’ve permanently cursed us if he had damaged it.”

Gao looks at her intently. “What do you do when you found him here?”

“I yelled at him, and pushed him.” She admits with a huff.

“You should apologize. If he’s to be the key to breaking our curse, he has to fall in love with you. He can’t do that if he’s scared of you, or thinks you’re an angry person.”

“I am an angry person.” Elektra grumbles.

“No, you’re just a person that gets angry.”

She wipes away another tear. “I’ll apologize at dinner.”

Matt’s stomach growls as he lays on his bed hours later, he hasn’t eaten since dinner with his father a few nights before and he doesn’t want his spite to be the end of him. Begrudgingly, he knows he will have to go downstairs and face Elektra. 

As quietly as he can with the floorboards creaking beneath him, he creeps downstairs and into the dining room, the smell of food wafting forward and making his stomach groan even louder.

Elektra sits at the dining room table alone. A moth eaten lace shawl wrapped around her shoulders. She hears a creak in the kitchen as she lifts a glass of wine to her lips. “Who’s there? Foggy? Madame Gao?”

“No… it’s me,” Matt says after mentally scolding himself for making noise. He pushes the door open and walks inside hesitantly, as though Elektra might snap at any moment and push him once more, or something much worse. “I’m not intruding, am I?”

“No, you’re not intruding. Take a seat.” She claps her hands, though her protruding scars make it hard for her hands to fit together. Foggy comes out with another tray of food, and sits it in front of him. “Dig in.”

Matt remains hesitate until the food is sat in front of him, his stomach grumbles once more and he finally gives in. He stuffs his face with meat and vegetables and wine until he’s more full than he’s ever been before, not a particularly difficult feat to beat though.

A warm smile lights up her face as she sees him eat. It’s obvious he didn’t have much food, the reason behind his father’s stealing, and she’s happy to make him well feed.

She clears her throat. “I wanted to apologize, for earlier. I shouldn’t have pushed or yelled at you. It’s just, I’m very private with my room. Everywhere else on the grounds and in the house are open for you, but my room is off limits. Okay?”

“I shouldn’t have been snooping like that,” Matt admits with a sad smile, he can only imagine how important Elektra’s belongings are when she has no real relationships to nurture. He doesn’t want to feel for her, not when she’s the reason he is here and not at his real home, but he can’t help it.

“I’m sorry, truly. It won’t happen again.”

“I’m glad you understand.” She tucks a piece of hair behind her ear and smiles. “We haven’t really gotten to know each other well, and I think we should since you’re living here. Would you mind telling me a little about yourself?”

“There’s not much to know.” Matt gives a small shrug, making himself comfortable in the chair. “I live in town with my dad, it’s been just us since I can remember. My mother was…” his words trail off, a mournful look dropping over his face for a few moments.

“She got taken away, after she…” he gestures up to his eyes, hidden behind his dark glasses, “something about not being able to sin if you can’t see the evils in the world, I think.”

“No one wants a blind man on the job though, and no family wants to marry their daughter off to a freak. So I stay at home, tend to the chores, sit in the garden, just… exist.”

Elektra feels the urge to reach for his hand. Comfort him. But she can’t. The table is too long. They’re too far apart.

“I think you’re more then you know.” She smiles softly. “If there’s anything you want, I’ll get it. I’m sure we have it stored away. Paints, instruments. Anything.”

“I’m not sure what I want,” he’d ever really had the chance to want things, he simply accepted what he was given, handled the cards he was dealt. There’s something tender in the offer though that makes him feel like maybe this isn’t the worst thing for him, maybe some good can come from his stay. “It’s kind of you to offer.”

“Just le me know.” She smiles, before standing. “Finish your meal. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Good night,” he gives a shy smile before turning back to his food. He waits until he can no longer hear Elektra’s footsteps before slumping back in his seat, overwhelmed from his own confession. 

That night, for the first time in a long time, Elektra dreams. The leaves of autumn crunch beneath her feet, as she walks along the path leading to the town. Her body is bundled up in furs, and a tricorn hat sits on her head.

She removes her glove to run her fingers across a few remaining flowers, and when she looks down, there is no jagged scars marring her hand. As she glances in shock, another hand reaches down and caresses hers. She looks up to see Matt smiling at her.

When she awakes, she’s grinning from ear to ear. Even with the scars pinching her skin, she can’t help but smile.

Things slowly become less and less tense, while some distaste still sits in Matt for Elektra, he also pities her and can’t help but see at least a little good buried beneath the isolation. He knows what it is like to be lonely after all, maybe she can’t be blamed entirely for the desperation for company.

He finds himself walking the grounds often, sitting out in the garden with his face up to the sun, nothing to do except try and find some pleasure in this solitary life. With no one to talk to, he finds himself becoming more and more interested in Elektra, he knows so little and she remains to be the only person seemingly willing to talk at all.

Elektra often watches Matt in the garden from her balcony. Now that winter has come, he looks like an angel sitting amongst the snow. His head often tilted towards the sun.

She realizes the more she watches him, the more she likes him. She wants to do someting special for him. Give him a gift. He deserves it.

She thought about getting Stick to plant new flowers in the garden, to make it more lively, but it’s winter. Any plans to remodel will have to wait until spring.

One day, she gains the courage to join him in the gardens. Bundled in grey furs, and a shy smile on her face. “Hi.”

“Hi,” he smiles up at her, his cheeks and nose flushed red from the cold but the rest of him is bundled up in whatever warm clothes he managed to salvage. “It’s a nice day, isn’t it?”

“It is.” She nods. Her cheeks are warm the light blush across her face. She takes a seat on the same bench as him, but sits at the very end. Not wanting to push any boundaries.

She reaches into the little velvet pouch she brought with her, and scoops out bird seed. She sprinkles a small amount on the ground, then keeps the rest in her gloved hand. Several tiny birds fly close, and eat from her palm, and the cold ground.

“Would you like some?”

Matt nods his head after a moment and extends out a hand, his knuckles flushed pink from the harsh winter air. He can sense Elektra’s hesitance in being close to him, a fair assumption to make considering the initial aggression she had portrayed.

He’s seen anger before though, many times at that and he’s come to learn it isn’t synonymous with being bad. He doesn’t want to think of Elektra as bad, not when he is now living in her home. 

She opens the purse, and pour several seeds into his cupped hand. She lets out a giggle as a bird flies close, and perches itself on his head. “Stay still, I’ll get it to move.”

She puts out her own hand, hoping to entice it to eat from her palm. It looks it over curiously, before flying into her hand, and leaving Matt alone.

 _So, she is capable of gentleness_ , Matt’s brow furrows in curiosity as he listens to the bird chirp softly and nibble away at the seeds. Once it has taken its full, it chirps once more before flying away, returning to home in the empty branches of one of the large trees overlooking the garden.

When the birds have eaten all the seed, Elektra tucks the purse away and stands. “Would you like to take a stroll around the gardens with me?” She asks hesitantly.

“Yes,” he replies, a little more eagerly than he would have liked. He stands up and brushes the excess seeds from off his lap before shyly asking, “would you mind guiding me?” 

Matt knows he would be able to make his way around by himself, but it seems like the polite thing to do when he can still feel the space Elektra is holding between them.

She reaches over and takes his hand. Smiling at the new contact between them. She leads him around the property. Telling him various stories of her life.

How she fell from a big oak tree she’d been climbing as a child. Or once she read about tulips, and she tried to convince her father to buy and plant them, even though they’re expensive.

The more Elektra shares about herself, the easier Matt finds it to create a kinship with her. The differences are there and plentiful but so are the similarities, he finds himself being equally interested in both. He wants to know everything.

He swings their hands lightly as they walk, content in the company and happy to listen to Elektra’s stories for hours.

When dusk comes, they regretfully head inside. As they chat through their dinner later, Elektra is hit with an idea.

A ball, they should have a ball. She hasn’t attended one in ages, and she thinks Matt would enjoy it.

Once dinner is over, she begins to plan it. Excitement bubbling in her belly.

Matt has experienced few extravagant things in his life, he has scraped along getting the bare minimum and been pleased with just that. Not to say he doesn’t desire nice things, he’s simply learned to live without them.

When he’s instructed by one of the servants a few nights later to go downstairs, his immediate feeling isn’t one of dread. Hearing that Elektra wants to see him isn’t nerve-wracking, it’s almost a little exciting.

Elektra is waiting for him, dressed in her best gown. Several of the healthier servants have cleaned the ballroom to perfection, and brought out the instruments from storage.

When Matt walks into the hallway outside of the ballroom, she greets him with a smile. “I have a surprise for you.” She’s sure she sounds giddy. “Stick will give you clothes to change into, and then you’ll get your surprise. It’s behind this door.” She reaches behind and touches the gold handle.

Before Matt can ask any questions, he is whisked away by Stick and taken back to his room. He gets changed into what he can feel is a suit of expensive fabric, it feels like heaven on his skin and a harsh knock on his door has to bring him back from his thoughts.

As he walks back down the stairs, his stomach fills with butterflies at the thought of what the surprise could be. He tries to think the last time he was given a gift of any kind and he falls short, he’ll have to think of some way to say thank you.

When Matt returns, she’s on the other side of the door, already inside the room. Foggy greets him, and opens the door. Revealing the now glittering ballroom.

As he steps inside, she curtsies. “May I have this dance?” She looks up at him through her lashes.

After the moment of shock wears off, Matt reaches out and takes Elektra’s hand, running his thumb lovingly over the scars that grace it. They walk together to the middle of the ballroom where Matt then realises he doesn’t know how to dance.

Elektra shows him the basics, places his hand on her hip and keeps their others intertwined before starting to lead him. 

“Did you do this for me?”

“No, Foggy.” She teases. “Of course it’s for you.”

The music swells, and they begin to twirl around the room. Her ballgown swishing.

“You know,” he begins, hesitantly attempting to twirl Elektra with their hands up in the air, “I’m starting to think that maybe you’re a nice person.“

She blinks, surprised. No one has ever said that about her before. “You think so?”

“Yeah,” he says softly, hesitating for a moment before pulling Elektra closer, “it’s not every day a beautiful woman throws you a party.”

She fights back emotion at his words. She hasn’t been called beautiful in almost ten years. Her scars making her hideous. And now, a man that can’t even see her, thinks she’s beautiful.

“I think you’re a good person too. What you did, what I made you do.” Elektra corrects herself. “Taking your dad’s place.”

A gentle hum begins beneath her skin at the feeling of him so close. She’d only have to lift her head to shorten the gap and kiss him, but she doesn’t.

“Things could be worse,” he drops his head just enough so that their foreheads brush, allowing him to lower his voice just enough for Elektra to catch his confession, “besides, I think I’m starting to like it here.”

Her eyes light up at Matt’s words. “Really?” She whispers, near breathless. They’re bodies still moving in tandem.

Matt hums softly as their noses brush together, he’s never danced with anyone before but he’s pretty sure that they’re meant to end like this. Elektra’s heartbeat is fast and full of anticipation, he wonders what it would be like to have the courage to simply lean in.

It would be so easy to kiss him. To lean in, and melt in his arms. She thinks it could be glorious.

Her breath hitches slightly as she builds up courage, and leans up slightly. Seeing what he’ll do.

While the distance between them is mere inches, it feels like miles and Matt braves the journey. He reaches up and gently cradles Elektra’s cheek, tracing over the raised scars covering her face. They don’t scare him, to him they feel like a kind of beauty, one that only someone like him could understand.

He closes the gap and kisses Elektra, soft and chaste, treating her like something beautiful and delicate.

She sighs against his lips. Content for the first time in ages.

He pulls back for just a moment, checking to make sure he hadn’t overstepped any lines. Upon seeing how blissed out Elektra has become, Matt happily leans in once more. They continue to twirl leisurely around the ballroom, sharing hopeful kisses and tender touches.

Eventually they leave the ballroom. Smiling and smitten.

Their fingers are intertwined as she leads him to her room, a place she had once attacked him in. Now, it is where of the final surprise of the night rests.

She opens a bottom draw, and pulls out a ivory mirror covered by a handkerchief. She uncovers it, and places it in Matt’s hand. “It’s enchanted. It’ll show you whatever you ask to see. I sometimes use it to see into the village and beyond, but not often. It makes me too sad.”

Matt runs his fingers around the edge of the mirror, taking in the intricate decoration. He smiles as he goes to hand the mirror back to Elektra, gesturing up to his glasses.

“I haven’t seen anything for a long time.”

“Still, it gives audio too. I just thought- I thought you might want to check on your dad.” She says shyly. Twisting her hands together.

Matt’s features soften. He knows he could go to him, find a good time to escape and return to his home but the thought no longer appeals; leaving Elektra alone hurts more than he’d ever thought it could.

“I wish I could see you,” he mumbles as he pulls the mirror back and asks to see how his father was doing.

Her heart warms at his words, and her mouth falls open partially in shock. She wants to kiss him again, but doesn’t. Knowing it’ll be a distraction to whatever he finds out about his father.

The mirror reveals Jack speaking to a crowd of townsfolk, ranting and raving about the monstrous woman who has stolen his helpless son. It had been a long time since anything remotely interesting had happened in town, and many jumped at the chance of partaking in this rescue mission.

“Once he’s returned, we must slit it’s throat!” One of the men in the crowd yells, “before it imprisons any more of us!”

Matt drops the mirror and hurriedly rises to his feet.

Elektra’s quick reflexes let her catch the mirror, but she is still in shock. She should’ve known that Jack wouldn’t leave his son with her without a fight.

“I can stop this. Let me go talk to them, show them I’m fine—” the thought of returning home didn’t once cross his mind, he is too frantic with needing to stop this mob mentality. Elektra isn’t evil, she is misunderstood and perhaps the one person on the planet who can understand him.

She lays a gentle hand on his cheek. “Go.” She leans up and kisses him, before stepping back.

Upon leaving, he hesitates at the gates and turns back towards the house. He’d been trying to figure out a way to leave ever since the moment he’d arrived and now that he was finally free, he didn’t want to leave.

For the sake of Elektra’s life, he does. He heads back into town as quickly as he can, the growing sound of the mob becoming louder and louder with each step.

She sits on the balcony, and watches him leave until he’s out of sight. She eventually forces herself away from it to slip out of her dress, and into a nightgown. But she returns to the same spot. Keen eyes on the horizon.

“I love you Matthew.” She whispers. Hoping the wind may carry it to his ears.

“Matty!” Jack yells as he spots Matt coming down the path, he pushes through the growing ground and engulfs him in a hug. “What happened?”

“You need to stop this, right now!” Matt wiggles out from the hug after a moment, “she isn’t evil, you don’t need to do this. She’s different now, she’s let me go.”

“She’s a monster, what’s to stop her luring someone in again?” Jack says with melancholy, almost in pity for his son’s naivety. “You can’t see her, Matty, not like we can.”

“Maybe that’s a good thing!” Matt yells, “you can’t see past her scars but I can! She’s lonely and sad but good at heart!”

No matter what he says, the townsfolk have made up their minds. They push past him and start to head towards the house, down the long winding path. He knows that if they see the people inside, all of whom are disfigured in their own way, they’ll assume them all to be monsters and continue the slaughter.

There’s nothing he can do but follow after them, pleading that someone listen but of course, no one does.

Elektra stands from where she sits on the balcony, when she hears loud hoots and hollers in the distance. She glances outwards, and sees a line of torchlights coming her way.

She races out of her room when she realizes what’s happening. “A mob is coming! Protect yourselves!” She cries to her servants as she runs through the house. Making sure everyone is prepared.

“You don’t have to do this, please!” Matt manages to push to the front of the crowd where Jack is leading everyone, he grabs at his arm and tries to pull him back towards the town.

“I lost your mother, I’m not losing you too.” Jack says calmly before pushing Matt away from him, with a matter of a few minutes, they break inside.

Elektra grabs one of her father’s gun, and prepares it. The other guns and weapons she’s given to everyone else.

She crouches out of sight when the mob bursts through the door, and hears their gasps of horror when they see Stick, Foggy, and the others. Their various deformities alarming and frightening them.

She fires a shot to distract the mob, and then rushes down the hall. Hoping to lead them away from the others.

“Don’t hurt them!” Matt yells as he bolts past them, no longer bothering to put up his facade. He can hear Elektra’s heartbeat pounding from somewhere within the house, she’s scared and yet stupidly brave at the same time. He rushes up the stairs and follows the smell of gunpowder.

She runs back to her room. The balcony is the only place she’d like to die. With the sky above her, and that cursed flower out of view.

Matt shouts Elektra’s name as he rushes towards her room, thankfully knowing where to go unlike the others now searching through the many rooms. He stumbles with his haste, bursting into her room and following the sound of her soft breaths to the balcony.

“We need to go, right now!”

She turns around with a soft smile. “You came back.” She runs to him, and throws her arms around his neck.

“Of course I did,” he speaks softly and buries his face into her shoulder, “I wouldn’t leave you here.”

Elektra kisses his cheek, and holds him tight. They stay like this for a moment, until the bang of a wooden door being broken down the hall, shoves them out of their almost peaceful moment.

“We need to leave,” Matt pulls away from the hug and turns his face down so she can look him in the eyes, “they aren’t listening to reason, there’s only so much I can protect you from but we can go somewhere else—  just you and me.”

“I can’t- I can’t leave. Even though I want to leave with you more then anything. My scars, they’re a curse. I wasn’t born like this, nor was there an accident. I was cursed.”

She takes a deep breath. “Many years ago, when I was young, vain, and arrogant, an old woman came to my door, asking for shelter. I refused based on her appearance and lack of money. She offered to pay me with an orchid.” She tilts her head towards it sitting in the vase.

“I laughed at her, and then she revealed herself to be a witch. She gave me these scars, cursed the servants, and tethered my soul to the house. I physically can’t leave.”

Elektra excludes how to break the curse. It’s probably already overwhelming, and she doesn’t want him to feel pressured.

“I’m not leaving without you,” Matt says before turning to the door upon hearing mumbling from the other side, the banging follows soon after and he realises they’ve been found. His life wasn’t in danger, they weren’t going to kill him but he couldn’t live knowing Elektra died because of him.

“Is there anyway to break the curse?” He asks quickly, willing to do anything in that moment to stop the massacre that was about to occur.

She looks him in the eyes, clutching his hand in fear at the noise. “You have to say you love me and mean it.”

“What if I say it and nothing happens?” Matt jumps at another loud bang behind him. He isn’t afraid of saying it, he just doesn’t know what love feels like and can’t be sure. 

“Then the others and I stay like this forever, if we survive the night.” _And you don’t love me._

The door smashes open behind them, and she sees a man point his gun. She throws herself in front of Matt, and the bullet pierces her stomach. She collapses to the ground, blood now pouring out of her.

“ _Matthew_.” A single tear runs down her cheek.

Matt drops to his knees and pulls Elektra onto his lap, the townsfolk gasping at the gory sight in front of them as Matt tries to apply pressure to the wound. 

“You’re gonna be okay, I’ve got you,” his hands tremble as he holds her, barely managing to hold his composure with the smell of blood now overpowering his senses. 

“I’m so glad you came back.” She uses the strength she has left, to reach up and caress his cheek. “Remember me.” She quietly begs as she feels her life slipping away.

“Please, stay with me,” he whispers as he starts to feel Elektra relax in his lap, any strength left leaving her body. He leans his head down to rest their foreheads together, whispering three words just as her heart slows down almost completely.

“I love you.”

Air rushes back into her lungs, and she feels her body being levitated out of his arms. Rain begins to pour outside, and the wind blows it into the room. It washes over her, and clings to her skin.

Her eyes flicker open as she’s slowly placed back on the ground. She glances down, and sees that her hand is free of scars. She looks at her other hand, and then pushes up her sleeves. No scars. Her legs and feet are the same. 

“I’m free.” She whispers.

Matt stumbles to his feet, a few tears still running down his cheeks as he reaches out to touch Elektra. He can’t find the words to speak at first, too drowned in shock and pure relief to think of anything to say. 

Instead, he simply strokes his fingertips across her now smooth cheek, only resisting a few moments before pulling her in for a kiss.

Her arms wrap around his neck, and she hears the cries of joy throughout the house from her now disenchanted servants. She eventually pulls back, and rests her head against him as she takes in her room.

The case that housed the orchid is empty. The flower and its petals have vanished. The room itself looks like it did ten years ago. All the age and disintegration gone in a blink of an eye.

“Lets go for a walk, I can leave the property now.” She ignores the members of the mob that are starting to come to their senses, and shuffle out of her room.

To Matt, nothing had changed. While her skin feels different to the touch, it wouldn’t be a stretch to assume all was the same; that’s to say, she was as beautiful before as she is now, to him at least.

“Whatever you want, we can go anywhere,” he presses a few kisses to her cheek, his hands still clutching at her waist. Now he knows the true violence his father is capable of, he cannot ever return to that home. He belongs with Elektra, where they are doesn’t matter if they’re together.


End file.
